Customer Reviews

The Plimsouls...Plus

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After Peter Case left The Nerves (which included fellow power-popsters Paul Collins and Jack Lee) he went on to record several incredible power-pop records with The Plimsouls. This is perhaps the very best of the lot, and even more so for the CD's inclusion of the Plimsouls debut 12" EP as bonus tracks.

Case's singing has never been more emphatic than here, and the songs and guitar-based pop backings display the very best of the back-to-rock 'n' roll side of late-70s/early-80s 'new wave'.

Those who enjoy the music of Matthew Sweet, Big Star, and the like, should certainly have this disc in their collection.

While I was driving one day, I heard a song on Sirius Radio's Underground Garage station that just blew me away. It was just an amazing song, and I just had to have it. That song was "Everyday Things". As soon as I got home, I did some serious web searching trying to find a copy of the CD that had this song. Unfortunately, I found that it was on an out-of-print CD that many people wanted at least $60 for! It was crazy; I loved the song so much and I just had to get my hands on a copy. Finally, I was able to get a copy on Ebay for $25, and it's a purchase I will never regret.
Sure, not every track on the disc deserves a 5-star rating, but none of it is filler. It's packed with great songs like "Everyday Things", "Now", "Zero Hour", "Great Big World", and "How Long Will It Take", just to name a few. If you've never heard this album, you don't know what you're missing. It's like hearing Paul Westerberg and Marshall Crenshaw combined. It's just a wonderful album of great music that should have been huge hits.
If you want it, you'll have to pay a bit more that you usually would, but it's worth it!

If you like Cheap Trick and Tom Petty I think you'll find thisalbum is to your liking, falling somewhere in between. "Now"is a classic single. The only problem I have is that, having seen them live in their heydey, some of production seems tame and the energy they conveyed didn't quite come through on this album as it did on the single "A million miles away". Peter Case is somewhat like Paul Westerberg-an artist who only received short term commercial success but every so often is capable of writing songs that can only be called "excellent" END

As unfair as it may seem to Peter Case, there's no denying that this CD, comprising of the original 'The Plimsouls' LP, the 'Zero Hour' EP along with some B-sides and bonus cuts, utterly destroys anything he subsequently did, including the Plimsouls' impressive major label debut 'Everywhere At Once'.

On this release, The Plimsouls are shockingly consistent, with just about every track carrying the band's trademark aggression through tight, melodic and downright memorable hooks.

Truly one of the greatest "lost" collections of songs of the eighties, virtually every song's a potential single. Of course, if you want to get hold of this piece of history, it looks as though you'll need to pay a hefty price, save for Rhino reissuing it in the near future (a very unlikely prospect). That said, it's a price I'm glad I paid.

An essential purchase.

You've probably heard "A Million Miles Away." But in my opinion, the tracks on this album are the Plimsouls at their best. There is not a clinker in the bunch. Just listen to the clips! Great, catchy power-pop that sticks with you long after the songs end. Peter Case's solo albums are OK, but for me, they never had quite the same spark as this first Plimsouls album. You just HAVE to like stuff like "Zero Hour," "Women," "Now," "Hypnotized," and "How Long Will It Take?." Buy it and see. These guys were underappreciated in their brief lifespan.

If you had to compile a collection of must-have albums (CD's) from the early 80's (power pop's golden period, other than the early-mid sixties) this CD should be considered for one of your first purchases. Melody, churning guitars and hardy drumming come together in one potent package. "Now" is a typical lost classic, and one of the songs that belongs on your power pop compilation tapes. Great songs abound on the disc, and as a special bonus, it includes the EP "Zero Hour", which also contains another lost classic, "Great Big World", a perfect slice of pure pop bliss!

Man, I love this album. Actually, this CD is comprised of their first EP, "Zero Hour," along with their debut album. In addition to the excellent material on the debut album, including "Now," which should have been a big hit, the EP has some incredible stuff on it, like the superior original version of "Zero Hour," the catchy "Great Big World," as well as the awesome "Hypnotized." For anybody that likes high-quality power-pop, and likes their songs to be tightly crafted tunes that last for 2:30 to 3:00 minutes and then get out of the way, this is IT. The driving cover of "Woman" on the debut album is worth the price alone.

If there was one American album that captures the power-pop new wave energy of the early 80's this is it. Unfortunately, they had to compete with the likes of the GO-GO's Fortunately, the GO-GO's are Gone Gone but the Plimsouls are still cranking.

I read an album review in the Rolling Stone on The Plimsouls back in early 1980, and a few days later my roomates and I up at Colorado State University wore this recording out. The thing is, it still sounds great today. The CD is a gem, in that includes tracks recorded on the first album, Zero Hour.

Peter Case sings like someone who must have had sandpaper fused onto his tonsils. This CD is worthy of LOUD PLAY at your next party

Los Angeles boasted of some of the best Power-Pop bands in the world when the whole "skinny-tie" revolution. Some never really belonged under that heading, and The Plimsouls were one of them. Basically an R'n'B rock four piece, their debut album fell through the cracks on Richard Perry's short lived Planet label.

The Plimsouls debut was a polished rocking affair, eleven solid songs with nine written by singer Peter Case (and other band members) plus two covers. There wasn't a single dud on the original album's listing, and both "Now" and "Zero Hour" (here also in its original Ep recording as a "plus" track) were released as singles. A horn section boosted the R'n'B aspects of "Minnie Skirt Minnie" and the album's lead-off track, "Lost Time." A profound Early Beatles influence can be heard on the cover of "Dizzie Miss Lizzie" and "Hush Hush," letting these rip in the same fashion of The Beatles' early fascination with American Rock.

However, because of the times (1981), the production was minimalist and some of the touches (the keyboards on "Zero Hour" for instance) are very much a date stamp. It doesn't rob the authenticity from "The Plimsouls," nor does it excuse that these songs are out of print. (Is there a contract dispute over this CD?). Given that this album has a very loyal following and was one of the best albums of that year, OOP status is just undefendable.

Still available: One Night in America and Everywhere at Once (featuring "A Million Miles Away)," easily the band's finest hour).

Where is: A definitive anthology of Peter Case's Plimosuls/Solo Geffen albums.

I saw these guys in the day at a club off Hollywood Blvd & have there vinyl disc's and in which this was one of them. Now that it has been expanded with the tracks I had on vinyl this one is really good. I know the price of this one is steep but if you liked them in the first place (Got the original Zero Hour on a 45rpm when it first came out!) it is great to have everything all together. I did get the next album as well but had to get this one when I saw the additional tracks and that version of "Zero Hour" is on this album! So if you like this band alot, by all means get this one and while your at it, get the second album as well. Still think to this day this band should have made it real big. Highly recommended before this one goes out of print which it might be now! Visit my site sometime "JudeMac Forever" and say "Hi".